Archive for the ‘Caged Bird Feeders’ Category
We’re Taking a Tour
What a beautiful Sunday. The temperatures were well into the 40’s, and lots of snow melted away. Needless to say, I had to get out and enjoy the warm air, the afternoon rays that were actually warm. I took a tour of the yard for the first time since our huge snow storms. At some points, I was still calf deep in snow, but I did it anyway.
Come on, take a walk with me. You won’t get tired as we have to stop and be very still and quiet from time to time so we can identify the visitors along the way. We’ll only do part of it today and finish it later.
It all starts at the back door where the bluebirds visit the mealworm feeder but wouldn’t be caught while we are here. Right next to it is the platform feeder. The cardinals, doves, finches and others empty it every day. This morning there was a blue jay happily sitting there. They don’t like it when it’s windy, but today the air was still. The blue jay is a member of the crow family and his bold and gregarious nature actually scares the other birds away so I don’t get too excited when I see him.
After we pass the heated bird bath, it’s time to stop and rest and watch so we don’t disturb the two downy woodpeckers - one on each of my two caged suet feeders. And right next to them is a finch feeder which is full of niger seed, but no visitors at the moment. On the tree practically upside down is a nuthatch patiently awaiting his turn at the suet while pecking away at the tree trunk where he probably has some niblets stored in the bark. OK, rest time is over and up the hill we trudge to the caged bird feeder and mesh bird feeder. Let’s rest now, and we’ll complete the walk another day. Below is a nuthatch and a downy woodpecker.
The Snowy Owl
I keep looking out my window and thinking I see thousands of these guys covering the grounds. Truth be told I have never seen one, but a customer was talking about them the other day, and curiosity sent me to investigate and find out more.
Snowy Owls are mostly found in exteme northern margins of the artic tundra. Some years a good number of them remain there year round, and other years they migrate to southern Canada and the northern half of the United States. They are commonly seen in new York and New England and across the northen plains in the winterm, but in other areas of the northern US they make appearances some winters and not others.
Their diet consists of lemmings when they are available as well as other birds, fish, rabbits, rodents and waterfowl. They are fierce defenders of their nests, male and female alike. One snowy owl can eat from 3 to 5 lemmings a day - that’s about 1600 a year. They are the largest and heaviest of the North American owls and also the most distinctively marked. The adult male is pure white with some distinctive barring - I pictured the male a couple of days ago, today you have a female.
The snowy owl is certainly not one I would ever expect to see at my caged bird feeder or even on the ground. I think since we are in the middle of a little blizzard here, his name just caught my attention.
Tomorrow’s a Big Day For Me
Well gang, tomorrow at this time, I cannot guarantee that I will get here. I am getting up at 4:30 Am and will be reporting to our local out patient clinic at 6:00 Am and at 7:30 I will go under the anesthesia to have some sinus/septum surgery. If all goes wiel I will be home around noon in time for the birds afternoon feeding.
Can you believe I am looking forward to being home for a couple of days so I can spend some time watching the birds. Before it go dark, I made sure that all of the bird feeders are plum full and put fresh clean water in the heated bird bath. I took all of the niger seed out of the finch feeder. It had started to get stuck, so I cleaned it out and put all fresh food in it. As a precaution, I did the same with the caged bird feeder.
So, now you know I am a complete nut, but I can’t wait until tomorrow so I can watch all of bird activity at prime time! If you think of it, say a little prayer for me.
2K10 Wishes
Ok, I am just repeating the news anchor. 2010 and he is calling it 2K10 instead of 2010. My husband asked me why they didn’t call 2009 2K09. Sorry I cannot answer that.
It is snowing here and travel is very dangerous right now. So I am wishing you and yours a very happy and SAFE New Year. I am entertaining guests tonight, and right now it is up in the air as to the safety of them coming about 25 miles for a meal on bad roads, so it is up in the air.
I have other guests too. There are currentlyabout 20 black-eyed juncos (Snowbirds) frolicking on, around and under the caged bird feeder. I call these little birds “happy birds” because they always look like they are playing games and skipping and hopping and smiling. They always have a way of brightening my day.
God bless you all. have a wonderful New Year’s Eve.
Caged Or Cagey
After a joyous day off to celebrate my Grandson’s 7th birthday, I am back, with an “out of the mouths of babes” story.
My 7 year old Grandson and 10 year old Grandaughter were here over night. They discovered my binoculars and were passing them back and forth and watching the birds eat from the various feeders in the yard. The questions were just flying from them and I took much pleasure in answering them as best I could. Then came the question of the day from Griff.
“Gram, why does the big round bird feeder up on the hill have a cage around it? Are you trying to trap the birds?” To a 7 year old the caged bird feeder could possibly look like a trap, so I had to explain that the cage was to help keep the squirrels out. And, that the spaces in the cage were just perfect to let the small birds in, but try as they might, the bird birds could not possibl y get in to eat all the food.
When we got home to their house this evening, my son asked Griff about his day. Griff’s answer: “We learned alot about the birds again, and Gram even let us use the binoculars all morning. But, Dad, Grammy has a cagey feeder that keeps the big birds out. It’s cagey because the big birds think they can get in and then they can’t - so go figure.” And off he went. Well, if that is what he remembers of our converstation, then so be it.
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
Life Is Good, Be Happy!
“Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.”
Life is good, be happy!
Mourning Dove
This quote seemed like a great way to start on another drizzly day in Novemeber, the eve of Thanksgiving.
I never mind heading out to feed the birds. It’s fun for me, but the damp weather of the last 2 days reeked havoc on the caged bird feeder. The tube was a bit clogged and that just doesn’t work for me, so I brought it in and cleaned it out. While I stood at the sink cleaning it out, there was a show taking place in front of my nose at the platform feeder. The house finches spend a lot of time in there, as do the cardinals, but today, there was a mourning dove hogging it while the finches all sat in the bushes and perched on the poles and the shepherd’s hook.
It was pretty funny watching that big dove making the little guys step aside while he chomped on and on, and the finches 9all 6 of them just waited patiently and the second the dove left, hopped on in for their share.
A Bit More Woodpecker Info
The Red-Naped Sapsucker is not to be found here in the Eastern states. They are almost exlusive to the far mid west summering in the north and wintering in the south. They love to hang out in the lower elevations of the Rocky Mountains. They are extremely fond of making sap wells in willow trees, but do not rule out other trees when the willows are hard to find.
The male’s throat is completely red, and the female throat can be entirely red, or red with a white chin. Sapsuckers are the only woodpeckers who have a vertical strip on their side. The Red-Naped Sapsucker is a medium sized woodpecker. Sapsuckers do not suck sap,they sip it. Their tongues are shorter than those of other woodpeckers, and do not extend as far out. The tip of the tongue has small hair-like projections on it that help pick up the sap, much like a paintbrush holds paint.
The very active little Downy Woodpecker is a smaller version of the Hairy Woodpecker who we will meet a little later. The Downy is a common sight at backyard birdfeeders where it teams up with chickadees and nuthatches and just barely outsizes them. The black and white colors can often appear to be like a checkerboard. And they have a very bold stripe on their head and a broad white stripe down the center of their back.
The Downy Woodpecker can be found in any state in the United States as wll as western Canada. They are ground feeders, but are often on the ground under birdfeeders and are particulary fond of the Woodpecker suets, so you will see them hanging on caged suet feeders. The can be quite noisy littly birds. They have a very shrill and whinnying call, and they are incessantly drumming on trees with their long sharp bill that is almost as long as the depth of their head.
Sparrows Again
Today, a brief encounter with the Song Sparrow and the Swamp Sparrow.
The Song Sparrow has a heavily streaked breast with a central spot, a striped face and relatively long tail. These are common in back yards year round. At my house, they are particularly fond of playing in the potentilla bushes, and I often see them scouring the ground under the caged bird feeder. When they aren’t here they are hanging out in thickets, shrubs, marshes, parks and gardens.
The Swamp Sparrow has a reddish cap and reddish wings. There is faint streaking on the breast, and the gray face contrasts with the white throat. They are mostly found in marshy areas, weedy fields, shrubs and parks. And, as their name suggests they do much prefer wet areas. They usally show up here, but later in the winter when natural foods are less available.
Even When It Rains They Come
We’ve had two solid days of rain and a couple more days of it are predicted before we will see the sun! There were a lot of people being gloomy and complaining about the cold 40 degrees, the wind and rain, and lots of talk about it being too early for this. Oh woest me!!
It didn’t bother me much. In fact, I couldn’t help but notice that the weather wasn’t keeping the birds away at all. The caged bird feeder was litterally covered with goldfinches and house finches. I had to giggle a bit, because it was only yesterday I was bragging about the no-no mesh feeder being a hands down winner and today - not.
There are a lot of things that aren’t perfect every day. I have spent a lot of time and a lot of years learning that complaining about them, or being gloomy over it, just isn’t worth the energy. Hope your weekend is sunny and bright regardless of the weather. Maybe this quote will help a bit!
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”
Brian Tracy
Nature To The Rescue
Wheww! I was away for a long weekend. I always love getting away. It’s the catching up when I return that makes me wonder if it’s worth it. The answer is, yes, it was very much worth it. But yesterday was a stressful day in the beginning, because I felt as if I had to get everything I had to do done in one day. Not so! Nature to the rescue!
I couldn’t help but pause yesterday while I was cleaning my bird baths. The Sunflowers are blooming and are in their prime. They are growing on a hill in the back yard and surround the caged bird feeder that is hanging on a shepherd’s hook. Despite the heat wave we are having, there was a slight breeze and they were dancing while the birds flocked on and around them taking advantage of their natural food source. Given the choice between the the commercial sunflower seed that I had placed in the bird feeder and the natural ones in the flowers, they always choose the natural.
Once again, nature had a quieting effect on my day. Mother Nature came to the rescue with the Sunflowers and afforded me an opportunity to pause, reflect, relax enjoy the birds and their delight in the dancing Sunflowers that they will only be enjoying for a short time. Thank you Mother Nature!